Dave Peacock, the co-leader of the St. Louis stadium task force, said at a local conference that the possibility of Stan Kroenke selling the Rams to get another team in Los Angeles is a very real possibility.

“It’s possible we have different ownership of the (Rams) because I think (Kroenke) is really committed to Los Angeles,” Peacock said, according to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I’m not against Stan going to Los Angeles, I just don’t want our team there. This is why we’re spending most of our time with the league — we think this is an NFL issue.”

As Miklasz makes clear in his column, Peacock’s comments shouldn’t be construed as to mean he wants Kroenke out of St. Louis. Rather, Peacock wants to ensure an NFL team remains in St. Louis. As Miklasz reasons:

Ty Sambrailo was chosen in the second round of the draft by the Broncos. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

The days of contract holdouts and tense negotiations ended with slotted numbers for draft picks. The Broncos, as such, are wasting little time in signing their draft class.

On Friday, they signed second-round pick and former Colorado State standout Ty Sambrailo, as well as their three seventh-round selections to four-year contracts.

Sambrailo, a 6-6, 311-pound former competitive skier, was a first-team All-Mountain West selection at CSU after starting 11 games at left tackle. He is slated to compete at right tackle for the Broncos.

Seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian (No. 250), an athletic quarterback out of Northwestern, is recovering from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament. He is five months removed from surgery and is easing back into a routine. He could begin the season on the injured reserve, if necessary.

Cornerback Taurean Nixon, selected at No. 251, brings 4.3 speed in the 40-yard dash and special teams acumen. He excelled at covering slot receivers at Tulane under the direction of former Broncos cornerback and Green Wave defensive coordinator Lionel Washington.

Safety Josh Furman (No. 252) transferred from Michigan to Oklahoma State with one year of eligibility remaining. The move allowed him to showcase his coverage skills in a pass-happy league, earning him a draft status as a safety rather than linebacker.

Third-round draft pick Jeff Heuerman has not signed, but will. Nothing has changed with his situation since the former Ohio State tight end tore his ACL during a special teams drill in the Broncos’ rookie mini camp.

When Terrell Davis heard that owner Pat Bowlen was joining him in the Broncos Ring of Fame, he paused in reflection on Wednesday. John Elway will forever be the face of the Broncos. However, Bowlen’s impact on the Broncos’ last three decades of excellence and two Super Bowl championships can’t be overstated.

“When you are playing, you kind of think all owners are the same. Then you realize the more you talk with people and get removed from the game, that it’s just not the case. As players we all felt like he did everything to help us win,” said Davis, elected to the Broncos Ring of Fame in 2007. “You could feel it, you could tell how much it meant to him. And we felt badly if we didn’t win. We didn’t want to let him down.”

What separated Bowlen was his ability to strike a balance. He was demanding, yet trusted his employees and players. It’s rare to see someone of his acumen and power not meddle.

“But he didn’t. He gave us all the resources and then left it up to us to do our jobs,” said Davis, who posted a 2,000-yard season with the Broncos. “I think at one point we had the largest coaching staff in the NFL. Obviously (coach) Mike (Shanahan) was a big part of that. But somebody had to rubberstamp it. And (Bowlen) was always there to to make it happen.”

Bowlen is scheduled to be honored on Nov. 1 when the Broncos host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. Because of Bowlen’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease, it remains uncertain if he will attend. For Davis, Bowlen’s induction is personal. He will never forget Bowlen as the first person who called him after his ACL surgery during the 1999 season.

“He was more than just an owner. He was a confidant, a friend. When I needed him the most he was there,” Davis said. “There’s no one more deserving of the Ring of Fame than Mr. Bowlen.”

Ware, who spent nine seasons with the Cowboys and set franchise records in career sacks (117) and forced fumbles (32), was ranked among the top 12 in the first three years of the top 100 series, which started in 2011.

In 2014, after his final season in Dallas, he dropped to No. 56. This year, following his first season with the Broncos, he fell 31 spots after recording 40 tackles (33 solo), 10.0 sacks and two forced fumbles.

In his career, Ware has recorded 616 tackles (477 solo), 34 forced fumbles, three interceptions and 127.0 sacks.

From left, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, general manger John Elway and former NFL player John Lynch honored local student-athletes at a luncheon Tuesday. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Former Buccaneers and Broncos safety John Lynch presided over his foundation’s 17th Annual Salute the Stars Awards luncheon at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Tuesday and presented 15 students and coaches with $84,000 in awards.

With Mayor Michael B. Hancock, Broncos general manager John Elway and Broncos coach Gary Kubiak as guests, Lynch and his wife Linda recognized youth athletes from the Denver area for their accomplishments in the classroom, in their respective sports and in their communities.

Nearly 1,200 guests attended the event and had the chance to ask Elway and Kubiak about their high school experiences, the Broncos and more. Elway and Lynch even shared tales of their playing days at Stanford and in the NFL.

The John Lynch Foundation, which was founded in 2000 in Tampa, Fla., has awarded 162 scholarships totaling $839,000 to student-athletes, some with special needs. The foundation receives support and contributions from corporations and individuals, as well as a grants from NFL Charities.

The NFL announced on Monday that the Patriots would be fined a record $1 million, stripped of two draft picks and lose starting quarterback Tom Brady for its first four games of the 2015 regular season for their delation of footballs in the AFC championship game.

The punishment dealt a major blow to the defending Super Bowl champions. But the Denver Broncos are already benefiting — at least, in the eyes of one sports book operator in Vegas.

William Hill, which earlier posted 12/1 odds of the Broncos winning Super Bowl 50, revised its lines after the Deflategate ruling Monday. The Broncos’ odds increased to 8/1, as the Patriots’ fell from 7/1 to 12/1.

Brady has three days to appeal his suspension, which his agent, Don Yee, vowed he would do. But if the ruling stands, Brady will miss games against Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Dallas before returning against Indianapolis, ironically enough. Brady and the Patriots face the Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Nov. 29.Read more…

Broncos TE/FB James Casey learned from his experience in minor league baseball, saying “he would have no regrets” when he attempted to reach the NFL. He left an impression on his minor league teammates with the White Sox like pitcher Carlos Torres. (Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post)

As pitchers go, James Casey became one heck of a tight end. Casey, as I wrote in a feature story Monday, failed in the minor leagues, leading him on a “crazy journey” to the NFL. He flooded colleges with calls and letters. Rice gave him a scholarship as a defensive end. He convinced them to move him to wildcat quarterback which eventually led to him catching 111 passes as a slot receiver as a 25-year-old sophomore.

Weird path. Great result. Casey finds himself in Denver where some of his teammates have been before. Not with the Broncos, but the Rockies. Casey teamed in Class-A ball with Carlos Torres and Boone Logan, a former and current Colorado reliever. They were on the same staff with the last-place Great Falls, Mont., White Sox in the Pioneer League in 2003. A 20-year-old Casey went 1-4 with a 5.66 ERA, accelerating his exit from the minors despite having a “(heck) of a curveball,” according to Torres. But Casey left one heck of an impression on his teammates. Torres reached the big leagues in 2009, worked 31 games for the Rockies in 2012 and now operates as the Mets’ top setupman.

Torres remains a Casey fan.

“I buy everyone one of his jerseys and cheer every time I see him playing,” Torres told ESPN.com Mets reporter Adam Rubin, a friend of mine who graciously asked a few questions on my behalf.

How did Casey leave such an impression? He was a physical freak, something that has served him well in his NFL career.

“He was always a tremendous athlete. Some of things he did in spring training to show his athleticism were astronomically hilarious,” Torres said. “I actually think they are misusing him in the NFL. I would use him as a Dallas Clark kind of guy because he’s too big for defensive backs and too fast for linebackers.”

That is certainly a matter for debate. But, hey about that astronomically hilarious stuff?

“He jumped up and headbutted the ceiling at the spring training facility. Then he jumped up and shouldered the ceiling and we all laughed,” Torres said. “He had an enormous build and was unbelievably strong.”

Peyton and Eli Manning rap in DirecTV’s “Fantasy Football Fantasy” commercial in 2014.

I think it’s safe to say Peyton and Eli Manning’s rap career has reached its pinnacle. The two-man crew for DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket advertising campaign is now a full-fledged group.

The Mannings, who made “Football on Your Phone” in 2013 and “Fantasy Football Fantasy” in 2014, will be joined by the Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who signed multi-year agreements with the company to appear “in a wide variety of public relations, advertising and marketing activities.”

“The Mannings demand excellence from their teammates, so we knew we had to go big in the first round and select the highest-caliber talent to expand our roster. Tony and Andrew were the most obvious picks,” Alex Kaplan, DirectTV’s senior vice president of marketing said in a release. “With four of the most prominent performers and personalities in the NFL, we’re taking our NFL Sunday Ticket marketing game to a whole new level.”

A week after Ted Wells’ report on the New England Patriots found that team personnel and quarterback Tom Brady were “probably” aware of the team’s use of deflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game against the Colts, the NFL suspended Brady four games without pay, fined the team $1 million and stripped it of its 2016 first-round draft pick and 2017 fourth-round pick.

The Patriots will be without Brady, who has three days to appeal his suspension, against Pittsburgh, at Buffalo, at home against Jacksonville and at Dallas. Ironically enough, his first game back will be at Indianapolis, on Oct. 18. Five weeks later, the Patriots will play the Broncos in a primetime matchup at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

The $1 million fine for the Patriots is the largest in league history; the Broncos set the record in 1998, and then again in 2001 and 2004, for salary cap violations.

On Monday, after the NFL announced the punishment (full statement below), players past and present, media members and fans took to social media to weigh in. Some of the many reactions:

Broncos running back C.J. Anderson became the breakout star of the team’s offense in 2014. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Adam Gase, the former Broncos offensive coordinator who now works with John Fox in Chicago, met with Chicago media Friday after the team’s first rookie mini camp practice was asked about everything from the Jay Cutler-Peyton Manning comparison, to rookie Kevin White, to the team’s rotation of running backs.

But he also took a little jab as his former running back in Denver.

“In Denver — C.J. (Anderson) would hate me for saying this — but he got tired and was a little chubby sometimes,” Gase said. “I mean, he got worn down quick and then we had to rotate backs in last year.”

The biggest highlight of the many offensive linemen Ty Sambrailo and Max Garcia experienced this past week was, of course, hearing their name called in the 2015 draft.

But meeting Peyton Manning was high on the list.

Sambrailo, a standout tackle at Colorado State and the Broncos’ second-round pick, said he met with Manning briefly in the team’s cafeteria Thursday and is “extremely ready” to block for the quarterback.

“He came up and said hi and said he’s excited to get to work,” Sambrailo said Friday, after Day 1 of rookie mini camp. “That’s a future Hall of Famer, and it’s exciting to be in the same building as him. I’ve heard he really appreciates offensive linemen. Not a bad guy to block for.”Read more…

Immediately after the Ted Wells’ report claimed that “it is more probable than not” that Patriots personnel violated league rules by deflating footballs and that quarterback Tom Brady knew of the violations, players, fans and media began to chime in on the possible punishment Brady could (and should) face.

Brady, who spoke at Salem State University on Thursday in a moderated question-and-answer session with Jim Gray, said he didn’t have a response to the report and that he had yet to read the full 243 pages of Wells’ findings.

But many others have had strong reactions. On Friday, Las Vegas sportsbook Bovada LV released odds on the possible penalty Brady may face because of the report’s findings:

Quarterback Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos drops back to pass during the preseason NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Sept. 1, 2011 in Glendale, Ariz. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images)

Want to get that Tim Tebow Philadelphia Eagles jersey, but you’re afraid he’ll get cut or released before the season’s over? Fear not.

Schuylkill Valley Sports, a Pennsylvania-based sporting goods chain, offers an “NFL Traded Player Insurance” for $10 that gives buyers the ability to buy a new NFL jersey for half the retail price if the player’s jersey they bought is traded or released. Plus, you can keep the jersey to add your glorious Tebow collection (Gotta catch ’em all — four teams down, 28 to go).

Long before the Wells’ report was unveiled, Tom Brady committed to speak at Salem State University on Thursday, with Jim Gray as his moderator. Ticket holders to the event, which sold out, will be entered for a chance to win a Brady autographed football. (The irony is not lost on us.)

The question is: Will Brady be hounded by questions about Deflategate? As Pro Football Talk noted:

And this isn’t a typical speech in which Brady is choosing his own topic. It’s a sit-down moderated by veteran sportscaster Jim Gray. It’s hard to imagine that Gray — who has built his reputation on contentious interviews with the likes of Mike Tyson and Pete Rose — would avoid the topic of Deflategate just because Brady might not want to talk about it.

So expect Brady to address Deflategate tonight. If his agent’s comments are any indication, Brady will denounce the Ted Wells report and proclaim his innocence.

Given limited broadcast access to Gray's Q&A with Brady at Salem State tonight, I wonder if this is when Periscope breaks into sports world.

When Emmanuel Sanders signed with the Broncos in March 2014, he joined an elite, and lucrative, group of free-agent acquisitions by a Broncos team that led the league in total offense the season prior.

Getting to play alongside Peyton Manning in the league’s top passing offense “is like wide-receiver heaven,” he said at the time.

But Sanders also faced the unenviable task of filling the void left by Eric Decker, a guy whose receiving numbers the previous two seasons topped Sanders’ in his entire four-year career, with Pittsburgh.

Sanders didn’t need long to prove critics wrong — and to end the comparisons.

Last season, he became the second player in NFL history with 100 receptions, 1,400 receiving yards and nine or more touchdowns in his first year with a new team. His complete stats for 2014: 101 receptions, 1,404 yards (fifth among NFL receivers), nine touchdowns.

An NFL investigation found that “it is more probable than not” that the Patriots deflated footballs for the AFC Championship Game. (Jim Rogash, Getty Images)

The NFL concluded its investigation of the New England Patriots, reporting it was “probable” team personnel deliberately deflated balls during January’s AFC Championship Game, and that quarterback Tom Brady was probably “at least generally aware” of the violations.

The 243-page report from Ted Wells, the league-appointed attorney who led the investigation, includes some damning text messages between Patriots locker room attendant Jim McNally and Patriots equipment assistant John Jastremski that indicate Brady knew of their actions.

Eleven of the the Broncos’ 2015 regular-season games will be aired on CBS. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

Apple TV set-top customers may be left out when it comes to watching live NFL games.

The NFL has granted the rights to Apple TV for streaming ESPN “Monday Night Football” games and NBC “Sunday Night Football” games. But, as of now, according to a Variety report, Apple TV will not offer live NFL games on CBS. Apple TV’s CBS Sports channel will also not include shows like “Jim Rome” or “Boomer and Carton.”

And, as Variety reports, Apple TV customers may not get to watch live college football or basketball games, either.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.